Power transmission



Feb. 20, 1945.

H. F. PATTERSON POWER TRANSMISSION Original Filed May 16, 1940 2Sheets-Sheet 1 I; v M f 11 1 QJWV & I 4

WW 1 MM ATTORNEYa Patented Feb. 20, 1945 7 2 ,369,848 rowan TRANSMISSIONHerbert F. Patterson, Detroit, Mich., assignor to Chrysler Corporation,Highland Park, Mich., a corporation of Delaware Original application-May16, '1940, Serial No.

335,434. Divided and this application January 15, 1942, Serial No.426,800 V 'Claims. (01. 192-45) This application is a division of myco-pending application,1Serial No." 335,434, filed May 16, 1940, whichmatured into Patent No. 2,309,864, February 2, 1943.

This invention relates to improvements in variable speed transmissionmechanisms of the type particularly adapted for use in motor vehicles.

The principal object of the invention is to provide an improved threespeed' transmission particularly adapted for use in medium or low pricedcars having an overrunning intermediate speed ratio drive which may bebrought into action for accelerating the car without the necessity ofdisengaging the vehicle clutch.

' An additional object is to provide in a transmission of the aforesaidvtype a controlmeans for the'overrunning clutch by means of -which thedrive therethrough may be positively controlled.

Further objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent fromthe following description taken in conjunction with the accompanyingdrawings, in which:

Fig. 1 i a longitudinal vertical sectionalelevation of a powertransmission embodying the present invention. 1

' Fig. 2 is a sectional view taken approximately along the line 2-2 ofFig. 1 looking rearwardly of the-transmission and with the shift sleevein second speedposition.

Fig. 3 is a sectional view taken approximately along the line 33 of Fig.land looking forwardly of the transmission.

Fig. 4 is a sectional view taken along-the line 44 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 5 is a view similar to Fig. 4 but with the,

shiftsleeve removed.

Fig. 6 is a diagrammatic plan view of a motor vehicle embodying thetransmission of the present invention Referring to Figs. 1 and 6, it maybe seen that the transmission [8 i interposed in the drive between thevehicle motorll and'drive wheels l2, 2, suitable. clutch, I3 beingprovided to release the drive for shifting gears. A propeller shaft l4connects the transmission ID with the rear axle .16 through the usualdifferential mechanism, a propeller shaft brake l5 beingprovided forparking purposes. The transmission [0 is contained within a casing l1and comprises an input shaft l8 having a pinion l9 and a set of clutchteeth formed thereon. The pinion I9 is inpermanent mesh with a clustergear 2| carried for rotaq tionon a countershaft 22 mounted at each endin the casing 11. The countershaftjgear cluster also comprises a secondspeed drive gear 23, a low speeddrive. gear 24 and a reverse drive gear25. The gear 23 meshes with the second speed driven gear 26 which isjournalled on the tail shaft 21, said shaft also carrying a low-reversegear 28 which is splined thereon and is adapted to be shifted into meshwith gear 24 to establish low speed drive, or into mesh with reverseidler gear 29. to establish. reverse drive, the latter gear beingmounted adjacent gear 25 and in permanent mesh therewith.

The gear 28 is provided with a shift yoke receiving collar 30 which isadapted to receive the fingers of a shift yoke (not shown) for shiftingin the usual manner.

Referring now to Figs. 1 to 5, it will be seen that the shaft 21 hassplined thereon a driving hub 3i having external teeth 32 (Fig. 5) onwhich is slidably carried a shift sleeve 33having internal teeth 34(Fig. 2) which mesh with the teeth 32. A blocker-type synchronizer ring35 is carried on the cone-shaped portion 36 of shaft [8 and has a set ofblocking teeth 31 which are adapted to block shift of sleeve 33 intoengagement with the clutch teeth 20. except when the shafts l8 anda2'lare rotating at the same speed. The ring 35 has'a pair of diametricallyoppositely disposed lugs 38 which project outwardly intothe, slots 39provided in the hub 3| as shown in Figs. 2, 4 and 5.

3'! under such conditions being misaligned with the teeth 28 and 34 tothereby block shift of the sleeve 33.

Upon shift of the. sleeve 33 forwardly to engage the teeth 20, the teeth34 will first engage the teeth 31 which are. misaligned therewith andthering 35 will be forced on to the cone portion 36 with considerablepressure whereupon the shaft I8 will be slowed down and brought therebybe moved to, unblock the teeth-34 whereupon the sleeve 33 will slideinto, engagement with the clutch teeth 28 to establish direct drive.

The hub 3| has alternate teeth removed to facilitate ease of shifting. 4

The second speed gear 26 has a forwardly extending sleeve portion 4|which forms the drive element of an over-running roller clutch 42, thedriven element thereof comprising a sleeve 43 splined on shaft 2.! asillustrated. A set of rollers 44, carried by a cage 45, act to establisha one-way drive between the elements 4| and 43 when in such positionthat they engage the upwardly sloping portions of cams 46 formed on theelement 43. When the rollers 44 are in contact with the low portionsofcams 4.6,, nqdrive will be transmitted in either direction.

The cage 45 is carried by a disc-like member rollers 44 are in drivingposition, to its extreme 41 which is j ournalled on the element 43 andhas a pair of diametrically oppositely outwardly extending lug 48 whichrespectively extend into a pair of correspondingly located longitudinalslots 49 milled in the sleeve 33 in radial alignment with the slo'ts'39of hub 3L The slots 49, as illustrated in Figs. 3 and 4, are cut away inan oblique direction as indicated at 58 for-a purpose which will" bepresently explained.

- As show-min Figs. 1 and 3, a spring 51 of the expansion type has oneend engaged with the clutch element 43 at'52, the other end thereofengaginga slot 53 provided in the forward collar portion 41 of'tl'iedisc '41. The spring 51 constantl y urges the disc 41 in acounterclockwise direction-as viewed in Fig. 3 thereby tending tomaintain the rollers of overrunning clutch 42' in engagement withtheupwardly sloping ordrive portions ofcams 4'6.

When the-sleeve. 33 is in the position shown in the drawings with thelugs '48 in engagement with the straight ide portions of the slots 49,the spring 5t is contracted and the disc 4.1: is in such position thatthe rollers 44 are free to roll: on. the low portions of cams 46. Thus,no. drive will be transmitted through clutch 42 and. this. position efthe sleeve corresponds to neutral in. con:-. ventional transmissions.When the. sleeve 33. is shiftedforwardly to clutch with the. teeth. thelugs 48- areistili engaged with the straight portions ofslots- 49 andthe rollers 44 are thus retained: in non-driving" position. duringdirect drive setting of the transmission. When sleeve 33 is shiftedrearwardly: of. neutral position, the lugs 48- then engage the inclinedportions. 50; of slots 43 and the disc. 41 and-i cage 45Jis rotatedclockwise of Fig. 2 thereby: to engagethe rollers 44 ofclutch. 42 indriving relation relative to clutch. elements 4|; 811111 43. Thisposition. of sleeve. 33. corresponds to: second or intermediate speedratio position in conventional transmissions and upon rotation(if-shaft.- It, a one-way drive will be transmitted'toshaft 21: through.pinion IB; gears 21h, 2.3x and. 26: and' clutch 42;

It is-apparentthatthe drivein. second speed ratio is a free wheelingdrive in the: forward direction, the shaft 21' overrunning the gear; 26during tendency of the; shaft 21 to rotatefaster than the shaft 18 suchas during. coast of the vehicle. The freewheeling drive effective insecond speedratio only, the disc 411" functioning as explained abovetolock the. rollers 44:. out of driving engagement in all otherspeeds;

It may therefore be readily seen that the present improvedtransmissiondoes-not require any differenttechnique on-thepart of thevehicle driver than is required for drivingv vehicles equippedwith-conventional:transmissions; However; thepresent transmissionpossesses; a. distinct advantage over-conventional: mechanisms forwardposition for establishing direct drive, the

disc 41 is rotated clockwise of Fig. 3 through the action or the slots49, the inclined portions 50 r of which. exert a thrust on the lugs 48during for-wardmovement of the sleeve which rotates the disc 41 againstthe force of spring-5i. As is apparent from Fig. 4, the lugs 48 will becamm-ed in the direction indicated by the arrow on Fig. 4 during themovement of sleeve 33- from second speed position to neutral position bythe inclined portions 50 of slots 49*, the lugs being thereafter held inthe, neutral position by the straight portionsof the slots. Similarly,when the. sleeve 33 is shifted to: second. speed position, the lugs 48will be moved in the opposite direction as permitted by the: portions 50under'the influence ofrthe spring 5|.

The present improved transmission mechanism is particularly welt adaptedto use with power shifting devices such as, for) example, fluidservombto-rs and solenoids, it; being apparent that shifting betweenhigh. and second speed ratio positions may be. accomplished simply byreleasingthe. driving torque of shaft 18, momentarily.

While. I have-described. only one preferred. embodiment of my invention,it. is to be understood that various changestherein will be readilyappareritto. those: skilled. in the art and .II do not intend to limitthe invention inits broader aspects except. asset forth the claimsappended hereto.

I claim:

1. (Clutch: means for establishing a one-way driving connection betweena pair" of power transmitting members. comprising a set-of rollersoperatively disposed between said members, a cagefor spacing saidrollers; means constantly yieldably urging said cage'a'nd" rollersintodriving: position. from non-drivingposition thereof, said cage: and?yleld'ablezmeans being. so arranged and constructed suchthatone memberwill drive the otherin one z direction; of dri've when saidcage androllers are in driving position and. will'permit the other member=tooverrun. the said one member in the same direction of drive when saidoage-andi rollers are inxdrivepo'sition'; and means f'ormoving saidlcage and rollers intonon dr-iving position including a shiftable sleeveand means constantly. interconnecting; said. cage and sleeve;

2, In. combination with: a pain of co-a'cting power-transmittingmembers; ax roller clutch for establishing a one-lway-drivingiconnection between. said members, said clutch including a plurality ofrollers: and. a cage for controlling the positions thereof;yieldablei-means: for urging said cage and rollers into.dIfiViIlgfp'OSitiO-Il; means for 'rotating' 'said cage andiroller'sinto non-driving position, Isa-id last -means'including; at. lu'g'carried by saidicagezanda; shiftablei'sleeve having a slot for;receiving said lug; said. slot being so arranged 'withzrespect to: said?lug that: shift of said sleeveiaxially of saidpower transmitting memberswillrotate said cage. .-J

3. In a clutch device, a driving...element;-.a driven element;camfsurfaces on one'ofsaid elements; a set of rollers'dispos'edbetween'said elements and adapted to wedge betwenisaid cam surfaces andsaid other clutch element thereby to lock said elements against overrunin onedirection of rotation; yieldable means for urging said rollers tolock position: a cage fo'r carrying drive 'said driven element-3 in apredetermined direction ofdrive and permit the driven'ele'ment saidrollers; a lug on said cage; an axially shiftable sleeve ,havinga slot"for receiving said lug, said slot having a portion aligned with saidshifting, axis and a portion inclined with respect to said axis wherebysaid rollers and cage are bodily rotated in response to shift of saidsleeve.

4. Clutch meansv for.establishing a one-way driving connection between apair of power transmitting members, comprising a set of rollersoperatively disposed between said members, a cage for spacingsaidrollers, a torsion spring interconnecting said cage and one of saidmembers for constantly urging said cage and rollers into drivingposition, and means for moving said cage and rollers into non-drivingposition and contracting said spring to condition said cage and rollersfor return to driving position,,comprising a cam and follower meansunder constant control of said cam and operatively connectedto saidcage.

5. Clutch means for establishing a one-Way driving connection comprisinga first rotatable element having a plurality of cam surfaces, a secondrotatable element having a cylindrical surface, said elements arrangedin telescopic position with their respective surfaces opposite eachother; a set of wedging members operatively disposed between the saidsurfaces of said elements, a cage for spacing said wedging members, atorsion spring between said first element and said cage for constantlyurging said cage and wedging members into driving position relative tosaid first and second elements, and control means for shifting said cageand wedging member to non-driving position comprising cam means andfollower means, one of said cam means and follower means beingcarried bysaid cage and the other by'said second element.

6. Clutch means for establishing a one-way connection between a pair ofpower transmitting members, comprising a set of wedging membersoperatively disposed between said members, a

cage for spacing said wedging members, a torsion spring interconnectingsaid cage and one of said members for constantly urging said cage andwedging members into driving position, and

means for rotating said cage and wedging mem-- to overrun the driveelement in the same direction of drive, and means for controllingmovement of said cage, and wedging members between drive and non-drivingposition comprising a shift element carried by said driven element and ashift responsive element on said cage under constant control of saidshift element. I

8. In a clutch device, a rotatable driving element, a rotatable drivenelement, another -rotatable element having a set of clutch teeth, camsurfaces on one of said driving and driven elements, a cylindrica1surface on the other of said driving and driven elements, a set ofwedging members disposed between said surfaces, a cage for spacing saidwedging members, spring means interconnecting said cage and said elementhaving said cam surfaces, for yieldingly urging said cage and wedgingmembers into driving position relative to said surfaces from non-drivingposition thereof whereby said driving element may drive said drivenelement in a predetermined direction and permit the driven element tooverrun the drive element in the same direction of drive, and means forcontrolling movement of said cage and wedging members between drivingand nondriving positioncomprising a shift element having a set of clutchteeth engageable with the teeth of said other element and meansco-acting with said cage and shiftable member and responsive to movementof said shiftable element to engage said sets of clutch teeth for movingsaid cage and wedging members from driving to nondriving position.

9. In a clutching mechanism for obtaining a plurality ofpowertransmitting drives; a plurality of rotatable members one having a setof clutch driving position relative to said surface from non-- bers intonon-driving position and. contracting said spring to condition said cageand wedging members for return to driving position, comprising cam meansand follower means under constant control of said cam means, one of saidcam mean and follower means being carried by said one member and theother being operatively connected to said cage.

7.-In a clutch device, a driving element, a driven element, cam surfaceson said driven element and a cylindrical surface on said drive element,a set of wedging members disposedbetween said cam and cylindricalsurface, a cage for spacing said wedging members, spring meansinterconnecting said cage and driven element for constantly yieldinglyurging said cage and wedging members into driving position fromnon-driving plurality of power transmitting drives, a plurality drivingposition thereof, whereby one of said second and third members isadapted to drive the other in a predetermined direction of rotation andpermit the driven member of said second and third members to overrun thedriving member in the same direction of drive; a shiftable member havinga set of clutch teeth for engagement with the clutch teeth of said onemember; and control means including means on said cage and means on saidshiftable member for controlling the position of said cage and wedgingmembers whereby said cage and wedging members are retained in drivingposition under control of said shiftable member when said sets of clutchteeth are disengaged andwhereby said cage and wedging members are movedto non-driving position incident to engagement of said sets of clutchteeth and are retained in said non-driving position under controlof saidshiftable member during said engagement.

10. In a clutching mechanism for obtaining a of power transmittingmembers one having a set of clutch teeth, a second having a plurality ofcam surfaces, and a third having a substantially cylindrical surface; aset of .wedging members disposed between the cam and cylindrical surfaceofsaid second and third members; a cage for spacing said wedgingmembers; resilient mean: for yieldingly urging said 'cage'endwedging'memhers into driving position relative to said suriace fromnon-driving position thereof 'wherebyone of said second and thirdmembers is adapted todrive the other in a. predetermined direction ofrotation and permit the driven member'of saidsecond and third members tooverrun the driving member in the same direction of drive: ashiftabie'member having a set of clutch teeth fcr engaging'with-theclutch teeth of said one member; and control means cooperating with saidcage and shiftable 10 shifteble member during said engagement.

HERBERT F. PATTERSON.

